Chapter 157 Matsutake Chicken Soup]
The old man said, "The city gate will close in half an hour. If you go there now, it will take at least an hour. I'm afraid you won't be able to make it in time."
Chen Wu turned around and looked over, and saw that he recognized the person.
This old man was the boatman who ferried prisoners across the river in spring, summer and autumn.
Chen Wu went up to him and clasped his fists, greeting him: "Old boatman, do you still remember me?"
The old man squinted his eyes and looked at him, then smiled and said, "Isn't this Mr. Chen? He's busy escorting prisoners even in winter."
Chen Wu smiled and said, "It's an order from above, there's nothing we can do. Old boatman, you just said you can't make it to the city in time. Is there any place nearby where we can stay?"
He was somewhat annoyed that he had not considered that the city gates would close early in winter. If he had known this, he would have rested in the town for a night and crossed the river into the city early in the morning.
The boatman, upon hearing this, tapped his pipe and said with a smile, "If you need a place to stay, my house is spacious enough for you to stay for one night. There's only one thing I can do, but you'll have to take care of yourselves with food."
Chen Wu agreed without hesitation and said, "Thank you, old boatman. It's enough for us to have a house to shelter us from the wind and snow. We can take care of our own food."
After all, he was escorting exiled prisoners. Along the way, if they were not old acquaintances, no one who met him for the first time would dare to provide him with accommodation. Therefore, Chen Wu was very grateful.
The boatman then took everyone to his own yard.
It turned out that because he had been working as a boatman on this river, his house and courtyard were not built in the village, but on the river bank. Even half of the fence was replaced by the river bank. He even built a special frame similar to a ferry and a dock to directly stop the boat or lift the hull completely out of the water. Now the ferry used in spring, summer and autumn is placed on the frame in the dock.
In addition, there is a willow tree in the yard that is as big as a man's arm. Fishing nets, harpoons and other items are hung under the tree. There is a firewood room next to it with dry firewood neatly stacked, and dried fish are hung under the eaves, which is full of life.
Chen Fenghe looked around and was quite attracted by this small farmhouse near the water, far away from the hustle and bustle.
The boatman led everyone to the spacious wing and then returned to his own cabin.
After a while, Chen Wu came to negotiate and spent a hundred copper coins to get the right to use the dry firewood in the yard.
Everyone immediately started a fire and cooked while warming themselves by the fire.
Chen Fenghe paid an extra fifty coins to borrow the boatman's kitchen.
She and Qin Mengyue caught the old hen that Qin Mengyue bought during the day. After killing it, they boiled a pot of hot water to pluck the feathers, then cleaned out the internal organs and put them directly into the casserole, adding matsutake mushrooms, red dates, etc. to stew together.
After the soup was served, Chen Fenghe said with a smile, "It's still early, let's go out on the ice and see if we can catch any fish."
After hearing this, Qin Mengyue said, "It's so cold, you'd better not go out. Didn't Miss Song bring us a lot of game the other day? That's enough for us to eat."
Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "Mother, it's okay. I'll go take a look. If the ice is too thick and I can't catch any fish, I'll give up."
Qin Mengyue had no choice but to go along with her. She found the white crane feather cloak and put it on her. She smiled and said, "You bought a good cloak. The white color suits you perfectly. It's just a little too big. It drags on the ground."
Chen Fenghe couldn't help but feel embarrassed and evaded the question vaguely.
At that time, she was mainly afraid that Qin Mengyue would misunderstand that her relationship with Xiao Yunshuo was progressing smoothly, and it would be too abrupt to ask for a divorce at that time, so she lied and said that she bought it at the market and did not mention that it was a gift from Xiao Yunshuo.
As a result, we now have to be vigilant at all times to avoid being exposed.
Chen Fenghe quickly went outside and saw that there were many people who had the same idea as her. Everyone was gathered by the river, and someone had even used a big rock to smash a hole in the ice.
Chen Fenghe leaned over and saw that the ice was several dozen centimeters thick. No wonder everyone had no problem crossing it using horses and mule carts.
The boatman was also fishing with a fishing rod, catching a fish every now and then, as if there were a lot of fish under the ice.
But the officers and prisoners went fishing, but they couldn't catch a single fish after trying for a long time.
"This is strange. Do these fish recognize their owners? How come the boatman can catch so many?"
Everyone looked at the boatman with envy.
The boatman pretended not to see it and continued fishing.
Chen Fenghe also dug a hole in the ice, bent an embroidery needle into a simple fish hook, hung a bait on it, and started fishing.
I don’t know if it was good luck or what, but after a while, the fish on Chen Fenghe’s side was also caught.
When others saw this, they felt angry and envious.
How can they bully people even with fish? Miss Shen is not short of fish, they really rely on fish to start their meat...
After a while, the second and third fish were caught. Chen Fenghe didn't fish any more. Seeing that it was getting late, she went back to cook, leaving the prisoners staring at the ice cave and sighing.
In the end, Chen Wu spent money to buy some fish from the boatman, made fish soup, and gave it to everyone as a snack.
Chen Fenghe went back, cleaned up a few fish, made a braised fish, a stir-fried bacon with mushrooms, a stewed meat with dried beans, baked two pancakes, boiled millet porridge, and added the chicken soup that had been stewed earlier, and it was a meal.
Before Qin Mengyue could speak, Chen Fenghe had already poured out a bowl of chicken soup and placed it in a double-layered thermos cup. She smiled quietly and said, "Mom, I know this is for him."
Qin Mengyue nodded, feeling very relieved. It seemed that Feng He also had feelings for Shuo'er.
Although they have already gotten married and it is a foregone conclusion, Qin Mengyue still hopes that the two of them can live in harmony.
Don't think of it like this: she has been trying her best to be a good queen all her life, and she has been respectful to the emperor on the surface, but in fact they have never been close to each other. Or should I say... she has never understood Emperor Cheng's heart.
Otherwise, why would she naively believe that he was deceived by a treacherous villain when he attacked their own son?
In the end, I didn't even have a close friend in this half of my life...
Qin Mengyue thought about this and couldn't help feeling a little lonely. Thinking of Xiao Yunshuo's vomiting blood, she became worried again: "Feng He, is Shuo'er's injury serious? He vomited blood twice..."
In ancient times, coughing up blood was almost a terminal illness.
Chen Fenghe could only comfort him, "Mother, Your Highness has a strong will and deep inner strength, he will definitely get better."
After saying this, the two of them and the three little ones had dinner, and Chen Fenghe secretly took the lunch box to find Xiao Yunshuo.
Xiao Yunshuo and Yuan Xu did not stay in the boatman's house, but spent the night in the carriage.
Of course, Xiao Yunshuo was in the carriage, and Yuan Xu was guarding outside with his clothes on.
When Yuan Xu saw Chen Fenghe coming over, he naturally greeted her, "Empress," and opened the curtain of the carriage, as if asking her to get in.
Chen Fenghe: “…”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
